The present application claims the benefit of priority from Danish Patent Application No. PA 2001 00124 filed on 2001.
Not Applicable
Not Applicable
The present invention relates to a dosing spout for mounting on a container, said dosing spout having a liquid outlet valve, which, at placing of the spout in an electric field, can be actuated by the field for opening of outflow of liquid directly from the container and out through the mouth of the spout, and having an air inlet valve which can let air from the surroundings directly into the container as compensation for the quantity of liquid flowing out, the dosing spout being adapted for actuation of the liquid outlet valve and the air inlet valve for substantially simultaneous opening of these, and the liquid outlet valve and the air inlet valve being actuateable by displacement in the longitudinal direction of their respective, separate armatures, said armatures being influenced by the electric field.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,702,032 describes a dosing spout for mounting on a liquor bottle, where dosing takes place by opening of a valve for a pre-defined period of time corresponding to the quantity of liquor to be dispensed. At dispensing, the spout is passed into an electric coil which is energized, whereby the resulting electric field displaces an armature which is arranged in the spout and opens the valve. The quantity of liquor dispensed can thus be varied as required by control of the period of time in which the valve is open, for example, by means of a computer. The dosing spout is further provided with an air inlet in the form of a non-return valve placed inside the bottle at one end of a tube, the other end of which communicates with the surroundings. The non-return valve functions by means of a ball, which, in its closed position, is pressed against a seat by the liquid pressure in the bottle, and, during dispensing, is opened by the slight underpressure resulting from the outflow of liquid.
The prior-art dosing spout is not suitable for application, however, in connection with bottles that constantly hang upside down as in this situation the non-return valve will have difficulty in closing completely and it is therefore possible that liquor may leak out through the air inlet tube. If the non-return valve is designed with a closing force suitably large to enable it to close completely at a constant fluid pressure in the bottle, possibly by means of a spring, it will, however, find it difficult to open at the relatively small underpressure that occurs in the bottle during dispensing.
It has furthermore been established that in the prior-art devices the quantity of liquid dispensed cannot always be controlled suitably accurately in dependency of the period of time in which the valve is open.
AT 405276 describes a device for dispensing of beverages in portions, where a dispensing spout for mounting in a bottleneck comprises two magnetically actuateable valves for dispensing of liquid and air supply to the bottle, respectively. The valves can be actuated simultaneously by the field from an electromagnetic coil in which the dispensing spout is inserted at suspension of the bottle. The dispensing spout is divided into two longitudinal ducts extending in parallel, each containing a magnetically actuateable valve. Because of the two built-in valves the dispensing spout is relatively large, particularly in the transverse direction, and this means that the coil in which the spout is inserted at dispensing must have a rather large diameter. Furthermore this dispensing spout requires a rather strong magnetic field for the actuation, which necessitates an even larger coil that has a high cost price. As a consequence, particularly in case of dispensing systems having a large amount of bottles permanently suspended in their respective coils, this dispensing spout is unsuitable, because the large and consequently expensive coils raise the price of the equipment. In addition, the dispensing spout has a complex structure as it comprises many components, and consequently the device is also difficult to assemble during manufacturing.
In the catering trade it is often desired, however, that each bottle is provided with a dosing spout sealed onto the bottle to ensure registration of all dispensing. In this connection it is necessary to have a store of bottles fitted with dosing spouts, and therefore a simple and thus inexpensive structure is desired. In consideration of an agreeable design, emphasis is also on a structure of small dimensions.
The object of the present invention is to devise a dosing spout which is simpler and more compact than prior-art devices.
In view of this, the dosing spout according to the invention is characterized in that the armature of the liquid outlet valve and the armature of the air inlet valve are arranged consecutively in the longitudinal direction.
By arranging the two displaceable armatures of the dosing spout consecutively in their direction of displacement, a much slimmer dosing spout can be achieved, which can thus be inserted in a coil with a substantially smaller inner diameter, so that the dimensions of the entire device are reduced considerably in relation to prior art. Furthermore, in this way the coil windings can be made to lie closely around the displaceable armatures, whereby the magnetic field is utilized better, so that less electric power has to be applied in the coil for actuation of the valves, and for that reason an even smaller coil can be applied. Moreover, this arrangement of the armatures makes it possible to design the liquid outlet valve and the air inlet valve integrally, thus saving components and space in relation to the prior-art structures.
In a particularly advantageous embodiment the armature of the liquid outlet valve and the armature of the air inlet valve are mutually displaceable by mutual magnetic influence as a result of the magnetic field. The stationary armatures of the valves can thus be omitted, allowing a particularly compact structure of the dosing spout as a whole. Furthermore, this prevents the container with dosing spout attached from being affected by an upward force at actuation, which can cause the container to jump out of the coil and fall to the floor.
Both armatures can be guided axially in a tubular spout section extending between a mounting portion for insertion in a neck of the container and the mouth of the spout, and, in the open position of the valves, both armatures can abut a fixed stop in the tubular spout section. This may ensure a suitable travel by both armatures at the opening of the valves.
In an advantageous embodiment in terms of design the armatures are guided by means of longitudinal ribs in the tubular spout section and the fixed stop may be in the form of projections on the ribs. In this way the liquid can pass the armatures and thus flow through the tubular spout section as it flows between the ribs, and this obviates the need for a separate duct for the liquid in the spout section. Also, by integrating the fixed stops with the ribs a simple design is achieved.
In an advantageous embodiment a magnetizable armature fixed stationarily in the dosing spout is placed between the armature of the liquid outlet valve and the armature of the air inlet valve. By placing the dosing spout in the associated coil so that the armature of the liquid outlet valve is fully or partly outside the coil and thus influenced less by the electric field from the coil, it is possible to cause opening of the air inlet valve for a fraction of a second, and preferably less than half a second, before opening of the liquid outlet valve, the current through and/or the voltage across the coil being increased step by step at dispensing. In this way, any underpressure in the container can be eliminated by influx of air through the air inlet valve before the dispensing of liquid, and this prevents air from being sucked in through the mouth of the liquid outlet valve instead, which would cause dispensing of a smaller quantity of liquid than intended at the subsequent dispensing operation. Underpressure may, for example, occur if a bottle has been stored in a warm storage room and is subsequently put to use in a colder room.
Each of the displaceable armatures may have a central bore for reception of respective ends of a compression spring, one of the armatures may have two sections with different diameters so that a shoulder is formed between the sections, and the section with the smaller diameter can be designed so that it can pass between the projections on the ribs and that the shoulder can thereby abut the projections. This allows a more compact structure, as the armatures can be designed so that, at opening of the valves, they move so close to each other that they nearly touch. Furthermore, the guidance of the spring is good in the central bores.
In an advantageous embodiment the air inlet valve is actuated by the armature located furthest away from the mouth of the spout, and the tubular spout section is separated from the seat of the air inlet valve by means of a membrane. By means of the membrane the air inlet valve can, in a simple and functional way, be separated from its armature in the tubular spout section, through which liquid can flow. As the air inlet valve is opposite to the mouth of the spout, the membrane and the air inlet valve can be arranged outside the tubular spout section, where there is more space for these components and the associated air ducts.
In a particularly simple embodiment the membrane is formed integrally with a valve body, which abuts the seat of the air inlet valve upon closure thereof. Membrane and valve body can thus be made of the same material, for example rubber, as the membrane part can be thin and the valve body can be relatively thick. This obviates a component as well as design of connecting members between the membrane and the valve body. In addition, assembly becomes easier as one assembly operation is left out.
The armature of the air inlet valve can advantageously be permanently connected with the central part of the membrane forming the valve body. The valve body can thus be guided by the armature and can, by the armature, be pulled away from its seat at opening of the valve.
In an advantageous embodiment the air inlet valve is placed at one end of a duct, the other end of which, through a non-return valve, opens inside the container when the dosing spout is mounted thereon. This prevents liquid from flowing out through the air inlet valve at the opening thereof during dispensing, due to, for example, overpressure in the container due to heating. It is further an advantage that the valve body of the air inlet valve and the valve seat are kept separate from the liquid in the container and are thus only in contact with air, which enables the valve to function more accurately.
The non-return valve can preferably be arranged right by the neck of the container. In this way the non-return valve is surrounded by liquid from when the container is full until it is almost empty, which ensures more consistent functioning of the non-return valve and thus a more uniform outflow of liquid through the spout. This is a substantial advantage as the quantity of liquid dispensed in a predefined period of time will be largely independent of whether the bottle is full or nearly empty, and a specified quantity of liquid can therefore be dispensed with good accuracy merely by control of the period of time in which the liquid outlet valve is open. Furthermore this prevents the non-return valve from going dry thus causing the valve body to stick to the seat, which can occur particularly in the case of, for example, sugar-containing liquids.
In an alternative embodiment the air inlet valve is placed at one end of an elongated duct, the other end of which opens inside the container. In this way, a certain quantity of liquid can be received in the duct before the liquid reaches the air inlet valve and flows out through said valve. The risk of outflow is thus minimized.
The duct may preferably have a length which is at least three times longer than the inner diameter of the container neck in which the mounting portion is to be inserted. This provides a more uniform flow rate out through the spout, from when the container is full until it is empty, which is an advantage as mentioned above.
The present invention further relates to a dosing spout and an electric coil in which the dosing spout can be inserted axially, the dosing spout and the coil being adapted so that the dosing spout can lean against the coil in a position where the air inlet valve can be caused to open by application of less power in the coil than required for opening of the liquid outlet valve. In this way the advantages mentioned above are achieved.
In an advantageous manner the armature of the liquid outlet valve is located fully or partly outside the windings of the coil when the dosing spout leans against the coil. More power is thus required in the coil for opening the liquid outlet valve than for opening the air inlet valve.
Alternatively the armature of the liquid outlet valve may have a smaller mass and/or diameter than the armature of the air inlet valve, whereby it is possible in the same way to open the air inlet valve shortly before the liquid outlet valve.
Finally the function just described can be achieved by the armature of the liquid outlet valve being preloaded in the closed position of the liquid outlet valve with a larger spring force than the armature of the air inlet valve in the closed position of the air inlet valve.
The present invention further relates to a system for dispensing of liquor or the like, comprising a bottle holder with an electromagnetic coil and a dosing spout for insertion in the coil, as well as a data processing unit for control of the magnetic field of the coil for dispensing of predefined quantities of liquid and for registration of the number of drinks dispensed.
The system may be adapted for control of the magnetic field of the coil so that, at dispensing, the field first assumes a low value for a fraction of a second, preferably less than half a second, and then assumes a higher value.
The present invention also relates to a method of dispensing of liquor Or the like, according to which the dosing spout described above is inserted in an electric coil and the coil is subsequently energized for application of a first power input in the coil for a fraction of a second, preferably less than half a second, whereby the air inlet valve of the dosing spout is opened, whereupon the current and/or voltage of the coil is increased for application of a second power input which is larger than the first power input, whereby the liquid outlet valve of the dosing spout is opened.